Zimmerman's tweet refers to Vanity Fair's decision to kill a
profile about Paltrow last year.

If the Whisper post is true, it
marks the first time someone has used the app to break national
news, and it draws questions about the future of the app and
community-journalism. On the other hand, since users post
anonymously to Whisper, there's no way to verify whether or not
the post is true. The app has traditionally been used for making
confessions about one's self, not gossip about other people. The
Paltrow post makes Whisper more like Secret and other anonymous
apps which let users post recklessly about others. Traditionally,
those companies have all been shut down from lawsuits, libel, and
defamation.

Whisper CEO Michael Heyward told Business Insider that while the
app has always supported discussions around celebrities, it
doesn't support ill-intentioned rumor mongering. Whisper's
editors can remove posts that might be defamatory.

"We have, (and always will have) a zero tolerance
policy towards bullying and personal defamation on Whisper,"
he said. "That said, we have always allowed honest and open
discussion as it relates to public figures or other entities
in the public domain. Our policies around moderation will never
change and are in place to make sure that no user ever feels hurt
by the actions of another user on the service."